Forget Paris in the springtime, grab a yurt in Toulouse

09/12/2009

If you've seen the film Story of Weeping Camel then you'll know what a Yurt is. If you haven't, then rent one this Christmas and you will. For the adventurous traveller (with loads of time) the movie will make you book a trip immediately to Mongolia. For the other mere mortals with 2 weeks winter hols due, you can get just as good an experience at a safari-style yurt camp in oak woodland overlooking the green Averyon valley, about an hour northeast of Toulouse.

The huge yurts, raised on wooden platforms, have handmade double beds with cotton sheets and feather pillows. There's an indoor-outdoor wooden shower house and open-air kitchen where you can help yourself to fresh herbs from the owner's garden! ('Oi, gerroff me garden ya lout!')

Nearby go off-road biking or canoeing through the Gorges de L'Aveyron then return to cool off in the camp's 20m-long natural swimming pool, which should be just the right temperature in Spring to wake you up without giving you heart failure.And if all else fails, the Six Nations Rugby will be playing in Toulouse's bars so nip down, pull up a high stool and enjoy the game. You can always invite the lads back to the Yurt for a bevvy after!

The train from London to Toulouse costs from £109 return (raileurope.co.uk) then take the train to Lexos, where the owners will collect you, (in a car, unfortunately camel taxi is not an option.